It can be hard to silence Gen Y sometimes, such is their need to be heard and understood – not to mention "favourited", "liked" and "double-tapped".

But it was radio silence from the Wallabies on social media after the Eden Park horror show.

There wasn't a peep from Israel Folau, Nic White was silent, and even the highly communicative Matt Toomua kept quiet in the aftermath.

It's hard to blame them. After all, what could they say about 51-20, especially on social media channels capable of vicious feedback, such as Twitter and even Instagram.

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Only David Pocock, a long-standing member of the Wallabies' Team Rehab, weighed in with a few kind words on Twitter: "That's a tough loss to take. Feeling for the team ... Credit to the All Blacks."

TROOPER HOOPER

Credit must also go to Michael Hooper, who is on the ride of his life as a 22-year-old Wallabies captain.

Baptism of fire? And then some. He made it through the France series unscathed, three wins from three. But the All Blacks are a test for even the best of the best.

And while Hooper's personal performances were as strong as ever – and sometimes the sole bright spot in some dark, dark moments – the young skipper was challenged more in the past two weeks than anything else he has experienced.

He has never shirked responsibility, though, and put his celebrations at the Waratahs' end-of-season dinner on hold for a few moments to answer tough questions about the Wallabies and his captaincy.

"We need to do something to beat these guys [the All Blacks] and I thought that was the right play at the time," Hooper said of his decision to knock back a shot at goal in the first Test.

"I will always back my decision there. I'll look at Adam Ashley-Cooper, I'll look at James Slipper, and say 'was that the right move?' and yes it was. At the time we had our tails up.

"Yes I'm a young guy but I've seen a lot of crap that's gone down in Australian Rugby Union to feel like I can make a good decision for the guys."

The boy from Manly is a born competitor. The criticism could drag a stronger man down, but Hooper has a powerful thing on his side – he loves playing rugby.

"I was criticised [in that] first week heavily for a decision I made," he said.

"We put ourselves in a position to win the game and we didn't, we got the draw, and then you get beaten by [31] points the next week and all fingers point at you.

"That's part of the job. I love the fact I'm in a position to lead these guys around the park every week.

"For me, the Wallabies jersey means everything as a rugby player. It means so much to be able to put on that thing and see guys previously like [Stephen] Larkham and [George] Gregan and [John] Eales put it on before you and run out and face the haka.

"We didn't get the job done ... but it's not to say we don't want to."

GAY PRIDE FOR ARU

When the Bingham Cup kicks off in Sydney this weekend, more than a few people can sit back and feel proud to have played their part in making it happen.

Two failed bids did not stop a dedicated team of organisers and agitators from trying a third time.

Led by the Sydney Convicts, Australia's first gay rugby union club and reigning world champions, a host of big names from sport and politics threw their weight behind the bid, including John Eales, Nick Farr-Jones, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Julia Gillard, lord mayor Clover Moore and the Governor of NSW Marie Bashir.

Chief among its supporters, however, was Eales, whom tournament organisers have been quick to name as a major force behind the scenes.

His work lifting the profile of the tournament within the ARU has dovetailed with the work of Jeff Wilson, chairman of the International Gay Rugby Association, and resulted in the Bingham Cup drawing official endorsement from the International Rugby Board.

In light of FIFA's failure to sanction Mexico and Brazil for their fans' use of the homophobic word "puto" during this year's World Cup, the IRB should be congratulated for officially recognising and supporting the Bingham Cup.

The ARU is leading the way, too, with its commitment last year to developing the first inclusion policy in any of Australia's main sporting codes. That policy was released on Thursday night at the official launch of the Bingham Cup.

It stated: "Rugby has, and must continue, to be a sport where players, officials, volunteers, supporters and administrators have the right and freedom to participate regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race or religion and without fear of exclusion. There is no place for homophobia or any form of discrimination in our game and our actions and words both on and off the field must reflect this."

TAH FOR THE MEMORIES

Change is afoot at the Waratahs, with media and communications head Nicki Drinkwater departing after three years for a role at Coca-Cola Amatil.

Drinkwater handled the corporate arm of the Waratahs' media business, leaving the team and player arrangements to Russell Fairfax. She is currently recruiting her replacement.

Expect to see big changes at Moore Park in the coming months.

26 comments

The entire blame can not go onto Cooper. At least he is showing leadership, belief in his players and a passion to win. The media hype distorts things and when it is looked at logically the All Blacks where not down & out as we were led to believe they merely played out a draw and then on their home ground they are always 15 to 20 points stronger.

This is not a disaster more so we should be treating it as a game to learn from and show our belief in Cooper and his leadership. Maybe some of the other players need to be reviewed.

Commenter

peter@epping

Date and time

August 29, 2014, 6:25AM

Must say I didn't see Cooper out there once.....

Commenter

Browns

Location

Sydney

Date and time

August 29, 2014, 7:04AM

ha ha, surely you mean Hooper. Cooper had a woeful season and injury to tote. Thinking that it will be a while to see Cooper in the "Green and Yellow" again. Although he is a great player who ... someone please finish this sentence!

Commenter

sao

Location

ballina

Date and time

August 29, 2014, 7:11AM

Didn't see any leadership from Hooper. He played enthusiastically and strong as always, but didn't display qualities of a leader. The last time going for a lineout looked safer than a penalty kick, Gregan was captain. It worked then because they would score. Want to see true leadership, have a look at the two captains rocking up to the post match interview after the first test. Hooper in a beanie and McCaw in jacket and tie. Respect the opposition, the game and off field events and your troops will follow.

Commenter

Rugnut

Location

Brisbane

Date and time

August 29, 2014, 7:36AM

I agree - it was definitely Coopers fault.

Commenter

Shrek

Location

Sydney

Date and time

August 29, 2014, 7:35AM

One of these days Australia will scrap the 3 redundant football codes and concentrate on RU and those Kiwis won't know what hit them - until then the All Blacks will continue to dominate.

Commenter

enricoohiggins

Date and time

August 29, 2014, 7:42AM

^this LOL!!!!!! enrico.

Commenter

soup

Location

gong

Date and time

August 29, 2014, 8:15AM

lets hope the USA stick to there gridiron then.

Commenter

rogue

Date and time

August 29, 2014, 8:19AM

Agreed, you've only got to look at the World Cup viewing figures. What was it? A billion people worldwide. Yes, it's clearly redundant.

Commenter

Ian

Location

Sydney

Date and time

August 29, 2014, 8:39AM

So that would mean from a NZ perspective every league player soccer player plays union.Then again all those stars who come across from League since 2001 have have been a great success.Considering the Wallabies have gone now 12 years with out the Bledisloe and won stuff all .Tri Nations now 4 nations..Heard that pathetic statement so many times before and is still utterly pathetic.. Most countries play a variety of sports that have different skill sets.Maybe if Australia would have a great baseball team if people did not play cricket, hockey tennis, golf.,table tennis and of course that other similar variant softball..As these games all involve holding something in your hand to hit a ball. The Americans would not know what hit them.